Shropshire Routes to Roots

Joe visits his local library and in the archives, with the help of the staff, he finds an aerial photograph of the area taken in 1965, before the Maesbury Road Industrial Estates were built. He can see that new roads have been made and the routes of some old ones changed. By comparing the photograph with the 1:25,000 map he can see that some field boundaries have gone, but also that you can still see their original position indicated by crop marks. He can see buildings on the old photograph that are no longer there, he notices that many trees have been cut down, and he can see the whole area before the industrial estates were built.

Joe then asks the library staff if they have any other information about the area. He is directed towards the tithe maps showing field names. This is dated 1839: before the coming of the Cambrian Railways and way before the industrial estates. On this plan he sees that the underlying structure of the landscape has not changed a great deal in 160 years or so. Roads are still largely in the same place, many building marked on the plan are still standing, the rivers are still there, and most interestingly that many of the fields are still there.

The Secret Shropshire website (opens in a new window) contains many of these maps with field names from Shropshire. Search on 'field names'

By using the Public Access computers in the library he finds the website www.old-maps.co.uk (Opens in a new window). Here he finds current aerial photographs and a 1:10,560 OS map dated 1888. This gives him a different view of the landscape. He is able to compare what was on the ground in 1888 with what he can see now.